This Time Imperfect
by hxc nerd
Summary: Rory thinks she's ready to start having sex with Jess, but wants to know a little about him first. What happens when someone from Jess' past arrives unexpectedly? Mostly about Jess' past and why he's the way he is. Finished!
1. Are You A Virgin?

-1A/N: Alright, so I've had this idea floating in my head for awhile, and I need to get it out on paper, or it will never go away. Takes place during late third season, Jess and Rory have been dating awhile, and Jess gets a visitor from his past.

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Jess and Rory were sitting alone in Rory's living room watching a movie, when Rory got the urge to ask Jess a question. Lately the sex issue had been on Rory's mind a lot, and she had decided a few days ago that she needed to know a bit about Jess' past sex life before they began theirs.

She lowered the volume to almost nothing and turned to Jess.

"What?" Jess asked.

"Are you a virgin?"

"What?" Jess asked shocked and completely turned to Rory.

"Are you a virgin?" She repeated slower.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"No."

"No you're not a virgin?" Rory clarified.

"Yes."

"Yes, you're a virgin?" She was confused.

"No! I'm not."

"Oh." Rory looked down to her fiddling hands.

"Is that all?" Jess said a bit annoyed. He'd never liked getting into personal stuff. Why would he want to suddenly do it now?

"When did you lose it?"

"Why are you asking me this?"

Rory doesn't look up from her hands. "Because, I've been thinking about, you know, _it._ And I decided that I want to know a little more about you before we go into that."

"Oh." Jess said completely shocked. He hadn't known why she was asking him, but he sure as hell didn't expect her reason to be _that._

"So?"

Jess looked back to the T.V. and replied numbly, "Twelve."

"Twelve years old? Wow." Rory couldn't even remember having a crush at twelve, much less lose her virginity then.

"Yup."

"Do you regret it?" She glanced up at him.

Jess looked directly at Rory. "No."

"You don't?" She's shocked.

"No. I had a girlfriend. She was curious, I was curious." Jess shrugged. "It just worked out that way."

"Oh." Rory looked down at her hands again.

"I should go. I have to open the Diner tomorrow." Jess needed an excuse to get out of this conversation. "You'll stop by?"

"Yeah." Rory looked up to a now standing Jess. "I need coffee, and where else would I get it?" She tried to lighten up the mood.

"How flattering." Jess leant down and kissed Rory's lips briefly before stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking to the diner thinking about the girl he lost his virginity to. Cassie.

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A/N: Okay, so this was a short chapter, I know. And sorry it kind of sucked ass. It will get better, I promise. And it's a lit so don't fret my little readers. I just wanted to write a little about Jess' past and why he actually got sent to Stars Hollow. I know that why he was sent to Stars Hollow has been done before, but I doubt that this will be the same.


	2. Some Things Never Change

-1A/N: So I got some pretty good feedback from the first chapter, though I was a little sad at the lack of reviews. I saw a lot of people put this in their story alerts. You guys rock. Hopefully you all will review this chapter, 'cause in my opinion it's much better than the first. I didn't like the first all that much and their wasn't much to review, I understand. Wowza this is long. If you're still reading, please review this chapter. They really do make my day.

Disclaimer- Forgot to put this on the last chapter. I own nada. Except this lovely laptop I'm writing this in.

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It'd been about a week since the night at Rory's house and the subject hadn't been brought back up.

The Diner was empty except for Jess and Rory. They were so wrapped up in their own conversation that they didn't hear the bell above the door jingle, announcing someone had come in, until that someone spoke up about a minute later.

"Wow, the service here suuucks." The voice said, and Jess stopped mid-sentence and froze. Slowly his hazel eyes raised to the green ones staring at him.

"Cassie." He finally choked out.

"That's my name." The girl said with an unsure smile. She was wearing a well-fitted The Cure t-shirt and straight-leg jeans with ballet flats. She had a pretty face with luscious red lips and sparkling green eyes outlined in black eyeliner. Her face had a few freckles here and there but not a lot. Her black hair was thick and straight and it came to just above her full breasts. She was incredibly thin but her body adorned curves that made her look like an hour glass. She looked like a model and Rory couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious being in the same room as her.

Finally Jess broke out of the trance he was in and almost ran around the counter while Cassie dropped her purse and met him half way practically jumping on top of him squealing.

Rory just watched in pure amazement. Jess was smiling. She thought only she could make him do that.

Jess put Cassie down, and first she looked a little dizzy, but blinked a few times and held him at arms length examining him. She let go, and with her right hand, motioned for him to turn around. He did, and then faced her again.

"So?"

"You're all clean shaven." Cassie pointed out as she ran her thumb along his chin.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, just reminds me of a much younger Jess. Like you're twelve or something."

Twelve. That age popped out at Rory, remembering the talk she and Jess had.

"Well I stopped being lazy."

"And started using actual shaving cream as appose to just water?"

"Yes." He replied reluctantly, looking at the floor.

"I told you it would work better!" Cassie pointed at Jess with an accusing finger, which Jess quickly grabbed. "Hey, that's mine!" Cassie tried to pull her hand back but failed.

"No, you pointed it at me. It's mine now." Cassie tried again to get her finger back and the two started struggling.

Just then Rory's stool squeaked, and Jess quickly turned around, dropping Cassie's finger. He had completely forgotten Rory was there. He almost thought he was back in New York, just playing with Cassie in his apartment like they used to.

"Oh. Rory, this is Cassie. Cassie, this is my girlfriend Rory." Jess introduced.

Rory got up and walked to where the pretty, shorter girl was standing, and offers her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You too." Cassie shakes it. "I've only heard Jess call one other girl his girlfriend. Congratulations."

"Thanks." Rory blushed. "I have to go study."

"Alright. I'll call you later." Jess leaned in and brushed his lips against Rory's, and Rory walked out of the Diner trying to figure out if she should feel threatened or not.

"Well that was sweet." Cassie commented once Rory had completely left the Diner.

"Yeah, she is."

"Jess dating a sweet, naïve, virgin girl. Has the world ended and I just didn't realize it?" She teased.

"Shut up." Jess joked back punching Cassie lightly in the arm.

"You look good."

"You look good too."

"I am." Cassie smiled.

"Really?" Jess obviously didn't believe her.

"Yes."

"What are you doing here anyway? I thought you hated me." He hadn't thought of the last time they'd saw each other, too caught up in the excitement of seeing her again. But once it wore down, he remembered.

Cassie walked over to one of the stools at the counter and sat down. "I could never hate you, Jess. I was scared. I didn't know what to do. You kind of shoved me into the situation."

"I didn't mean-"

"I know. I didn't know at the time. But I needed that shove. It probably saved me, and I came here to thank you."

Jess nodded silently, and after a few seconds spoke. "So you're not staying at all?"

"Not if you don't want me to. If you want me to stay, I'd love to see how you're doing, and how on _Earth_ Jess Mariano can live in this tiny town. Plus, if you don't mind I'd like to get to know the girl who stole your heart."

"Whoever said she stole my heart?" Jess scoffed and walked to the coffee maker out of habit and to give him something to do.

"Oh come on. Seriously? We've known each other since we were little kids. You cannot seriously think you are going to lie to me, and that I'm going to believe it. I know you better than I know myself." There was a long silence while Jess didn't answer. "Okay, you're not going to admit it. Fine. I'm letting it go" Cassie held up her hands in surrender.

"Good." He said as he started wiping down the counter.

"So do you want me to stay or what? Because if not, the last bus to New York leaves in like two hours."

Jess stopped and seemed to think it over. His eyebrows came together as he stared at the now clean countertop. Finally he sighed and looked up. "I don't know, Cassie."

"I know it's been a long time, and we didn't exactly leave on good terms. Your girlfriend, Rory seemed a little threatened by me, and I don't blame her. But I really only have honorable intentions here. I won't hang on like a leech. I can make myself busy, and there certainly didn't seem to be a lack of characters here. You can still have alone time with Rory, and you won't have to worry about me. I'll tell you what, if I get annoying and you want me to go away, I'll be on the first bus out of here. I promise." There was a long pause and Jess stared at Cassie. She smiled. "Come on." She urged.

Jess sighed heavily. "Okay. But I have no idea where you're going to stay. Luke sure as hell won't let you stay here."

"I didn't plan on it. Especially since you have a girlfriend. That might be a little weird. You know what? I bet Rory would know where I could stay."

"Cassie." Jess warned.

"I'm gonna find her and you can't stop me." She sang as she grabbed her purse and left the diner.

Jess shook his head as he watched her go. "Some things never change." He said to no the empty diner.

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A/N: I know, short chapter, and Jess will be a little OOC, but I hope not too much. If you have any questions, just review, I always answer them in the next chapter. Also, if any of you have trouble reading a lot of italics, let me know, because I want to do flashbacks and I need to know if I need them underlined or italicized. Review, please.

Aiden-Tonic- I was very sad to see you weren't online when I got on today, but that's okay. I hope you like the speedy update. Still a few kinks I'm working out, so the rest of the updates may not be as fast, but I really needed something to make up for the sucky first chapter. I hope you keep enjoying the story.

Amy- Thanks! I'm hoping the second chapter was better than the first, cause I really didn't like the first all that much, but I had to get the story started. Thanks for the review, I hope you keep it up.

Just A Girl of The Hollow x3- Haha. Thanks. You reviewed for yet another story! I hope you enjoy this one.

Hollowgirl22- At the moment I'm not planning for Rory and Jess to split, but you never know where a story takes you. You'll have to read and see. I hope you like it. Keep reviewing.

Curley-Q- Your review made me LOL. I'm glad you can actually see that conversation happening. Jess is going to be a little OOC in this story, but I hope why will all make sense.

The Warner Sister Dot- Hehe, I like your penname. I have two older brothers so we used to play that one was Yacko, the other was Wacko, and I was Dot when we were little kids. This a fast enough update for you? Please continue reviewing.

Crono- I almost missed your review. I was just done replying to everyone when I went back to my e-mail and saw your review. Again, sorry it was short. The chapter will get longer. I hope this chapter answered your other question. Haha.


	3. Not My Story To Tell

-1A/N: You guys are lucky that I love giving you chapters. You all should return that love by giving me reviews. I try not to update unless I have at least 10 reviews, which considering how many people read this and how many people have it on their alerts, isn't asking a lot. Just leave a simple line or two. They make my day. Thank you to everyone that has reviewed, I will answer them at the bottom of this chapter.

A/N2- Hopefully you all will read this one. I know Jess is a bit OOC, and will be especially in flash backs. (which will be coming soon) But Jess was different before everything happened. You'll see. Some of why he's the way he is will be explained in flash backs. So no flames about that, please.

Disclaimer- I own Milo. Yup. You hadn't heard? Well, now you know. But I own nothing else.

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Rory and Cassie entered the Diner laughing and Jess looked up from a counter he was wiping down. He was a bit puzzled on why they were there, laughing, together.

"Hey Jess." Rory greeted smiling.

"Hey." He leant in and pecked Rory on the lips. "Coffee?" In return Rory gave him a look like he must be on something. "Right. I'm on it."

"Counter?" Rory asked.

"Yup." Cassie replied.

"So what're you two doing?" Jess asked as he poured two cups of coffee.

"I was just showing Cassie around town."

"I got a shot of Ms. Patty pinching Andrew's butt." Cassie laughed at the memory and Jess cringed at bitter memories of Ms. Patty's pinching fingers.

Rory suddenly burst out laughing and Jess and Cassie looked at her funny. "You haven't seen Ms. Patty around Jess have you?" Rory got out when the laughing subsided.

"No." Then it clicked. "Oh!" She looked to Jess and started to talk in a baby voice. "Did widdle Jessie wessie get violated?"

"I have orders to take." He avoided the subject and walked to the two other tables that were occupied.

"Oh man, I'm so mad I've missed that." Her voice returned to normal.

"It's pretty funny." Rory admitted.

"Are you still talking about my butt?" Jess asked as he walked back to the counter.

"But it's such a nice butt." Cassie mocked, earning a glare from Jess. "Alright well I'm going to go double check if there really are twelve stores devoted entirely to peddling porcelain unicorns."

"I had a hard time believing it myself." Jess informed.

"I'll see you back at the house, Rory."

"Bye."

Cassie flashed a smile and quickly exited the diner.

"What does she mean back at the house?" Jess asked, brows coming together in confusion.

"She's staying with me."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I like her. So does my mom."

"You should all get along. You're all lunatics." Jess rolled his eyes.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"So you really like her?" Jess asked, still not believing it.

"Yes!" Rory laughed slightly. "She's fun."

"Yeah, she's definitely that."

"Hey, I've got some homework that's calling my name. Pick me up at around 7?" Rory asked, referring to their date. Apparently Jess hadn't deleted all the messages as Rory asked and heard her rant about time.

"Yeah, I'll see you then." He leaned over slightly to catch Rory's lips in his quickly.

"Bye!" Rory flashed a smile when she ended the kiss and hopped off the stool she was on. Jess just shook his head and went to take the order of a couple that had just walked in.

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"Thirteen!" A female voice exclaimed as she entered the diner. Jess looked up from his book to find Cassie with her hands raised above her head.

"Thirteen what?"

"Stores! Thirteen stores devoted to peddling porcelain unicorns!"

"They made another one? Wow. Let me get you a coke."

"With some Rum, please." She pleaded, laying her head on the counter. Jess just lightly shook his head chuckling. Oh the ramifications growing up in New York had on you. He wound up just giving her a regular coke, and she didn't question it.

"Hey we never really got to talk." Jess stated quietly, leaning on the counter. There was no one else in the diner, but he still felt like he should be quiet. "What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"After I left…" Jess left the end off of the sentence hoping Cassie would finish it for him.

Instead she asked a question. "Why did you leave? Your mom told the cops you left to live with some relative. Was I really that bad? I didn't mean to chase you away."

"I didn't leave, she sent me here."

"What?" Cassie asked, barely audible.

"I got home from the police station and she had a bag packed for me. Told me I was going to stay with my uncle. I never even got a chance to tell anyone. As soon as I got in the door, she was pushing me back out and to the bus station." There was a hint of anger in his voice. "She said that you had gotten me into enough trouble, and that it was ending."

"You weren't even in trouble!" Cassie was suddenly loud, outraged at Liz. Liz had never liked Cassie, and made her distaste for her very clear.

"I know. She just heard the words Cassie, Jess, Police, and freaked."

"Probably too stoned to make out anything else." Cassie added under her breath, but Jess heard it and knew it was most likely true.

"So after I was sent here, what happened?"

"They arrested him." Cassie nodded with a slight smile.

"That's great!" Jess' smile was much bigger and Cassie looked down to her hair and started fiddling with it.

"Yeah, would've been if it stuck." Her words were bitter.

"What?"

Cassie looked up from her hair. "He got away, Jess. He got away and left the country." She decided to leave off the part about him promising to come back and kill her.

"Son of a bitch!" Jess punched the wall behind him, leaving a small dent.

"Don't worry about it. It's fine. I'm fine." Cassie lied, then got up from her stool to stand in front of a fuming Jess, holding him by the shoulders trying to catch his eye. He wouldn't give it to her, though. "It's not your fault." She told him for the trillionth time. He used to blame himself when they were in New York. He'd always blamed himself.

"I went through all of that trouble. Risked you never speaking to me again to get that bastard behind bars, and it didn't even work! He's still out there, Cassie!"

"You think I don't know that?! Do you think I don't lay in bed awake every night jumping at the slightest noise? Do you think that when I actually do sleep it's not filled with terrible nightmares and memories? That I don't worry about you, and imagine all of the horrible things he'll do to you, if he finds you? I was kind of relieved you left because that meant he couldn't find you as easily!" By the time Cassie's finished, there were tears beginning to stream down her face. The sight automatically sobered Jess and he pulled her into a hug, letting her cry on him. "I have trouble even blinking sometimes from the images that appear behind my eyelids." She sniffled. "Sometimes it just goes on repeat over and over and over until I'm screaming, or vomiting." She clenched his shirt in her small fists.

Jess hugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head whispering, "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." He had noticed how bloodshot her eyes were, and the dark bags under them. He had just figured she had missed the last few nights of sleep, preparing to see him. He really should've known better.

Cassie pulled away, wiping her eyes and sniffling. "Sorry. I came to see you, not cry all over you." She tried to laugh to lighten the mood a bit, but failed at both. "I should go." She walked to the stool she had been sitting by and grabbed her purse, heading towards the door. Before she got there, Jess' voice stopped her.

"Hey. You know I'm always here for you to cry on. I'm actually pretty good at it." He smirked.

Cassie looked to him and smiled, thinking of all the times he'd let her cry on him. She'd probably cried gallons of tears on him. Slightly nodding, she turned back to the door but stopped again. "You know that if Rory asks, you can tell her."

"It's not my story to tell."

"Yeah, but I'm giving you permission to tell it. She's nice, and you guys are pretty serious. She deserves to know a little about your past. I don't mind. All of New York knows already. I don't see the point in keeping it a secret." It was true all of New York knew. After He'd escaped, it had been all over the news. Cassie had to say it was embarrassing and made her feel even more like crap and alone. She hadn't gone back to school for over two weeks after that.

Reluctantly, he nodded and Cassie left.

Jess sighed, grabbing a book and leaving too, locking up behind him. Luke had gone to pick up a shipment somewhere in Hartford, and Caesar was taking the day off.

Before he knew it, Jess was on the bridge sitting with his feet dangling above the water. He couldn't believe He'd gotten out of jail. Especially when Jess had worked so hard to get him there.

Not thinking, Jess picked up the nearest thing to him, a big rock, and threw it as hard as he could, which went surprisingly far considering how large it was, before landing it the water with a loud _plunk_ and splash. Still, it didn't seem satisfying. This was why he used to fight.

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Just A Girl Of The Hollow x3- Is it okay if I just call you Just A Girl? Cause your name is pretty long to type out every time I reply. I used to be like you having a million stories on alert, but then I read too many and lost track of what was going on and which was which and my head exploded. Now I only read a select few. I like making people happy too. I'm glad you like this. I hope it continues.

Watergurl123- Yay! I'm glad you like it. Thanks for the review.

Dragon Dreamer3- I hope it was a good surprise that updated. I'm sorry if you were disappointed, but this story isn't going to be very long and I didn't want any unnecessary drama. Really, this story is mostly about Jess' past and that's it. I have too many other stories going on. I can't get start one without an end again. I hope you still like it.

Hollowgirl22- Thanks! Still soon enough?

XoXoLiteratiLoveroXoX- Jeeeez that was a long name. Haha. May I call you Xo from now on? I'm glad you like where this is going, and I really hope that continues. So far I am planning for it to be a lit. The other one I wrote that didn't, was a sequel to the one that did for all of the people that actually wanted Jess and Ellie to get together. (Which was a surprising amount) You, a Lit fan can pretend it ended at the first story and they lived happily ever after. Hehe. But I don't think you'll have to do that with this one. This isn't going to be a long story. Maybe like 7 chapters. So we're pretty much half done. The next few chapter will be longer.

Exitlight- I know it was short. I'm trying to make the chapters longer, but any longer and they won't flow well. I am trying, though. Was this one any better? I think the next one's longer. Hm.. You'll have to read and see.

The Warner Sister Dot- Thanks! Hope this chapter was as lovely as the last. Well maybe not, 'cause it was a tad bit sad, but lovely like you're satisfied.

Aiden-Tonic- Yay! Thanks. You are one of the big reasons I update. I love seeing what you think. You feed my ego like a cake feeds a fat kid.

Amy- Thanks. This is a pretty quick update, too. I'm glad it makes you happy. Please keep reviewing.

Allycat1186- I am continuing. I know I have a really bad habit of starting stories and not finishing them. I will try to finish all of them eventually. But this one I know for sure will get finished. I hope that can put you at ease a little.

CharliLee- Well interesting is better than IT SUCKS. So I'll take it.


	4. She Was My Everything

-1A/N: Okay, flashbacks finally here. Well, one of them. The whole next chapter will be a flashback too. Are you ready for it? I don't think you are. Haha. Jk. I highly recommend reading the lyrics written in this chapter. They do go with the story, and are truly beautiful.

Disclaimer- I don't own GG or This Time Imperfect by the great band AFI.

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It was three in the morning and everyone was sleeping. At least Cassie _thought_ everyone was sleeping. There had been a noise that sounded like a window opening and someone slipping out of it. Cassie of all people should know what that sounded like.

But either way Cassie couldn't sleep. She never did. She was laying on the Gilmore's lumpy couch staring at the wall because she couldn't stare at the ceiling and she couldn't close her eyes. Every time she did, she saw everything. Everything that had happened, and she couldn't take it. But she still tried before forcing her eyes open and sitting up with her feet on the floor holding her head in her hands.

God, she was so tired. It had been so long since she had slept for more than 2 hours at a time. She was losing weight. Becoming dizzy at the slightest movement. Constantly nauseous. Always had a headache. It was torture.

She pulled her legs up to her chest on the couch and started rocking back and forth slowly, humming 'This Time Imperfect'. She didn't know why, but it always made her feel better and she was always singing it. After trying to sleep she felt dirty. She needed a shower. So as quietly as possible, she gathered some clothes, tip-toeing to the bathroom singing softly to herself.

_I cannot leave here, I cannot stay,  
Forever haunted, more than afraid,  
Asphyxiate on words I would say,  
I'm drawn to a blackened sky as I turn blue,_

There are no flowers, no not this time,  
There'll be no angels gracing the lines,  
Just these stark words, I find,  
I'd show a smile, but I'm too weak,  
I'd share with you could I only speak,  
Just how much this, hurts me,

(I think I'm gonna crash)

_I cannot stay here, I cannot leave,  
Just like all I loved, I'm make-believe,  
Imagined heart, I disappear,  
Seems...no one will appear here and make me real,_

There are no flowers, no, not this time,  
There will be no angels gracing the lines,  
Just these stark words I find,  
I'd show a smile, but I'm too weak,  
I'd share with you could I only speak,  
Just how much this hurts me,

I'd tell you how it haunts me,  
I'd tell you how it haunts me,  
(cuts through my day, and sinks into my dreams)  
I'd tell you that it haunts me,  
(cuts through my day, and sinks into my dreams)  
You don't care that it haunts me,

Oh!  
There are no flowers, no, not this time,  
There will be no angels gracing the lines,  
Just these stark words I find,  
I'd show a smile, but I'm too weak,  
I'd share with you could I only speak,  
Just how much this hurts me,  
Just how much this hurts me,  
Just how much you...

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Rory walked onto the bridge and found exactly who she thought she would find.

Cassie had come back to the house a little teary-eyed and told Rory she was sorry. Rory didn't figure that after whatever had happened, he would remember the date they were supposed to have, so she just went to find him herself after everyone had gone to sleep.

"Hey." She greeted quietly as she settled down beside him.

"Hey." He sounded tense and that was when Rory noticed the smell of cigarette smoke, and how he was clenching his jaw.

"You okay?"

"Peachy." He replied sarcastically, putting out the cigarette he was smoking and picking up his nearly-empty pack sitting next to an already empty one on the bridge to get another.

"Jess-" 

He cut her off. "You seen Cassie?" He pulled out a lighter and lit up another.

"Yeah. She came by with her face all blotchy. Did something happen?" Rory leaned forward slightly to get Jess' attention, but he just continued to stare blankly at the lake.

"We just did a little catching up." It was kind of the truth. They had caught up.

"Tell me what happened."

Jess finally looked at her, and a part of Rory was relieved, while the other part wished she wouldn't have seen the haunted look in his eyes. She'd never been able to see an emotion in his eyes before. It was almost scary.

"It's not my story to tell." He repeated the statement he made to Cassie slowly, then looked back to the lake, taking a drag. "But Cassie wants it to be told." Rory waited patiently for Jess to start. "Cassie and I dated. For a long time. You want to know who the only other girl I called my girlfriend was? It was Cassie. I was left with a woman to baby-sit me that lived in her building. We were friends forever and really were dating forever. She was my first girlfriend, my first kiss, my first sexual experience, my first lo…" Jess sighed. "everything." Rory had heard the beginning to the word love, though. "When we were fifteen, she was raped." Rory gasped. She really hadn't been expecting that. "By her step-father. She had always hated him, and he did that to her."

_Cassie was walking out into her room only dressed in a towel with her hair soaking wet. She had just come out of the shower, and was going to get ready for her date with Jess while her mom took a shower and got ready for her night out with George. Hitler as Cassie always called him, because she swore that's who he looked like. If only he shaved his mustache like his, they'd be twins._

_The water for her mother's shower was already going when Cassie walked into her room humming to herself, excited to see Jess. She bent over to pick up a shirt my the floor, then stood up and looked over to her bed and screamed. Laying there watching baseball on her T.V. was none other than George._

"_What the fuck are you doing in my room? Get out!" Cassie really did hate him. She was spooked at finding him in her room. There were other televisions in the apartment._

"_Just thought I'd watch some baseball." He shrugged like it was no big deal._

"_Well go watch some baseball in the living room. This is my room, and you have no right to be in it."_

"_Where are you going tonight?" He completely ignored Cassie and acted like this was completely normal. It wasn't. _

"_The moon." Cassie dead-panned, trying to get him out of her room._

"_With that boyfriend of yours?"_

"_Dude, get the fuck out of my room!" In a second he was up and slamming Cassie onto the bed, her towel falling off slightly, making her nervous._

"_You really shouldn't speak to me like that." He growled, and although Cassie really was scared out of her mind and visibly shaking, she was still tough and a smart-mouth._

"_Why? You're not my father, and you're never going to be. Now let me go!" The next thing she knew, her towel was ripped open and he was unzipping his pants. "What are you doing?! Get off me!" She shrieked, panicking, trying but failing to push him off her. He did work out at the gym everyday._

_He covered her mouth with one hand, and held her arms with the other. Cassie tried to kick him, but he was laying on top of her with her legs pinned. She felt like she was going to vomit. She really felt like she was going to vomit when he thrust, ripping through all of her tightened muscles. She screamed into his hand and tears prickled behind her eyes. She could feel the warm thick liquid dripping down her skin, and it **burned**. Everything burned. She couldn't see. She tried to scream, but every time she made a sound, even if it was a cry or whimper of pain, it only seemed to spur him on harder._

_She couldn't stand it. She just looked up to the ceiling trying to think of anything else but what was happening. _

_A few more gruff grunts and he was at the edge, spilling inside of her and then Cassie really did puke. Into his hand, and he let her mouth go in disgust, but everything hurt too bad for her to make a noise. She just kept throwing the contents of her stomach onto the sheets next to her as she rolled onto her side, and he wiped the blood that had gotten on him onto the towel that was already soaked with it._

_He left the room while her mother was still showering, looking put together again and not at all like he had just raped his fifteen year old step-daughter. _

_Cassie barely heard some voices and something that sounded like George telling her mother that Cassie had already left and hurrying her mother out the door._

_That's how Jess found her. He came to pick her up and on his fourth time knocking, no one answered the door. Having had to break into her house before, Jess did it again calling out Cassie's name as he looked through the apartment. He saw her door only open a crack. She never left her door open. Ever. He cautiously pushed it open and looked inside, everything inside him breaking at what he saw. _

_A shaking, naked Cassie in the fetal position with dried tears and hair on her face. A bloody towel under her, and vomit on and next to her completely blank face._

"_Cassie." He tried softly. **God** it smelled terrible in there. Old blood and vomit were not good smells. "Cassie." He touched her shoulder, and she didn't even flinch, much less look in his direction. _

_She wasn't there anymore. _

_Jess left the room, and came back about a minute later. He slowly put his right arm under Cassie's back and his left behind her knees, picking her up from the bed with a little trouble, but then carrying her to the bathroom just fine. Just as gently as he picked her up, he set her down in the warm bath water. He ran his hand over her head soothingly a few times before unbuttoning his shirt, slipping it down his arms, taking off his undershirt and slowly starting to clean her off._

_After he was done, he wrapped her in a big clean towel and sat her on his lap, rocking her slowly back and forth as he called out softly. "Cassie… Cassie." Her eyes didn't move and her face stayed blank. If it weren't for her chest rising and falling, he would've thought she was dead. "Baby, look at me. I know you don't want to, but you have to come back." There was a slight twitch in her face like she was trying to move it. "That's it. Come back to me. I've got you. You're okay." He softly coaxed._

_Finally, her wide eyes shot to Jess' and he fought not to cringe at all of the pain he saw in them. Instead he took her in his arms further and kissed the top of her head humming whatever song popped into his head. The first song that came to him was "This Time Imperfect" by AFI. Cassie was really rubbing off on him._

_Immediately after he started humming the song, Cassie relaxed in his arms and her breathing evened._

_As much as he wanted to kill the son of a bitch, he knew that Cassie needed him right now and she came before anything or one else. Every part of him ached in pain watching the girl he loved like that. And while he was cleaning up her room, he heard her small raspy voice behind him. "Please don't say anything." She pleaded. "Promise me." He could do nothing but nod._

_-----------------------------_

A/N: Hope you like it. Please review.

Contygoldbarg- Thank you very much. I'm glad you think so.

Charlilee- Thanks

Hollowgirl22- Thanks. Well here is the main part of what happened.

Just A Girl- Cat is shorter, but might be hard to remember. My brain is full. Hahaha. I have to go back a chapter even now when I don't read that many fan fictions. I used to get confused even when I did that. I had to stop. Haha. Glad you liked the chapter. What'd you think of this one? Thanks for the review as always.

Spazz- Glad you're actually reviewing. Hopefully for this chapter you'll have more to say than update soon, so you'll review again. Milo should know that I own him. He doesn't mind. He's just cool like that.

XoBlair- How about that name? I should be able to remember that. If not, I will go back to Xo. Glad you're cool about me shortening it. The thought of Jess with someone else usually makes me cringe too, but for a few select stories I'm okay with it. I'm glad that even though you don't like those, that you still read them both. Bringing new characters can always complicate things. It's not supposed to in my story, but other people use it to that effect.

Dragon Dreamer3- Well I do write for the fun of it. I pretty much have this story written, and I don't always wait until I get a certain number of reviews. I didn't for the first chapter, and I still update quickly. As long as I don't torture everyone, which I don't think I could do because I love posting and getting lovely reviews from people. And the second authors note was just giving people a heads up so they don't feel the need to point it out. I know you're not flaming, and I just thought I'd explain to you why I work the way I do. I'm not mad at all, so don't take it wrong.

Exitlight- Thanks. Do you like where this is going?

Aiden-Tonic- My chapters are magic! They get rid of headaches! I should use it for myself some time as a medicine. Though my headaches don't go away nearly as easily. With my luck it would just get worse. Sorry if you couldn't sleep, but now maybe you can? Or maybe not if you're too excited about the next chapter. I'll try to get it out fairly quickly, but I'm still editing. Thanks for the reviews. I love them.

19merz86- Thanks so much! Haha, I'm only a quick updater for this story because I pretty much had it completely written before I even started posting. For my other stories, I'm really terrible at updating. Hence why I waited until it was written to start posting. Glad you like it. Appreciate the review, and hope you continue to do so.

PGGF- Thank you! I like Cassie, too. She's not here to mess anything up. Now you know a little about their backgrounds. What do you think?

Lavieboheme13ak- You're one of the only people that have asked specifically what happened in the past. Haha, now you know a little. What do you think?

Liasoneternal89- Well now you know. Were you right? What was your idea that was lined up? I'm curious.

Allycat1186- I'm glad you like that Rory and Cassie get along. I thought it'd be a nice change from all the stories where a girl comes to take Jess back. Thanks for the review.

The Warner Sister Dot- Sorry, but this chapter wasn't any happier. Probably even sadder. But was it still good?


	5. Broken

-1A/NL I'm not really entirely sure about this chapter. I've been debating it and fighting it for a couple weeks now, and it's kicking my ass. I thought about just leaving the whole thing out, but thought that some of it was necessary. So after much wrestling, this is the result. Tell me what you think.

Disclaimer- Duh.

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_The next morning Cassie woke up screaming but with her mouth closed like someone had their hand over it. Someone pulled her close to their chest, rubbing her back, whispering in her ear. _

"_Shhhh. It's okay. I'm here. You're okay. I'm not letting you go." The figure kept whispering over and over in her ear as she calmed down. _

_She looked up to find Jess laying with her. She didn't remember when he got there. She didn't remember much of anything. The last thing she remembered was… well she didn't want to think about the last thing she remembered. She didn't remember him stopping. She didn't remember Jess coming. She didn't remember getting into pajamas. But she was. She was in her Pjs, there were different sheets on her bed, and her hair was soft and dry like someone had combed it out and blow-dried it. _

"_Hey." Jess said softly, but Cassie couldn't respond. She felt like she had cotton in her mouth and there was a lump in her throat and the space between her legs hurt like no other. _

_She buried her face in his warm chest and got as close to him as physically possible and Jess got the hint wrapping an arm around her back and pulling her to him further, almost hugging her too hard, but not quite._

_She couldn't stay in the apartment. She couldn't stay anywhere He had been. So even still in her pajamas Jess took her to his apartment and she spent the entire day in his bed while he laid with her, comforting her as memories from the night before came flooding back. _

_Jess called her mother and told her Cassie had fallen asleep over at his apartment and he would bring her back the next day. It wasn't rare that they stayed over at one another's place. It was actually quite frequent._

_By the next day as Cassie dressed in some clothes that she left at Jess' just in case. She was fine. More like she was acting like she was fine._

"_You have to go to the doctor."_

"_No I don't. I'm fine." She pulled on a sock._

"_You're not fine. No one's fine after that. I'm going to kill him." Jess tried to reason before letting some of the anger get the best of him._

"_Well I am. And no, you're not. It's my fault. I provoked him." That's what He had told her over and over again Cassie remembered when everything came back._

"_Cassie, it's not your fault. Nothing you could have done deserved that." _

"_Obviously it did." Tears started to prickle behind her eyes but she refused to let them go._

"_Cass."_

"_No, Jess. I gotta go."_

"_Where?" _

"_Out." She finished tying her converse and left the apartment, slamming the door behind her. Jess just sighed and collapsed on the couch. _

_She wasn't mad at him. Cassie knew she was acting like Jess was the one who did something wrong, but she didn't know how to act after something like that happened. It hurt and it was embarrassing, and she didn't want to be the girl who spent the rest of her life crying over it. She was never the helpless girl and she didn't plan on starting. _

_Given, she didn't know what she would've done without Jess, it didn't feel right to cry all over him 24/7. He didn't deserve that. He'd helped more than anyone could imagine and Cassie knew it took an emotional toll. Jess was good at hiding when he was hurt or hurting just like she could, but he couldn't hide it from her. He hadn't slept at all the previous two nights, making sure that she was okay._

_She just needed to get out. Get some air. Let Jess sleep a little and let her mind wander._

_-------------------_

"_Cassie." Jess called through the bathroom door. "You've been in there for two hours. What are you washing?"_

"_Jesus!" She yelled. "I'm gross."_

"_You're not gross. You're cleaner than anyone on this Earth, and Jesus, trust me."_

"_No, I'm not. I'm dirty." It still felt like he was all over. _

"_Cassie, I'm coming in if you do not get out of that shower right now."_

"_I'll come out when I'm clean!"_

_Jess quickly picked the lock and opened the door. She was at his apartment because she refused to shower in hers because Hitler showered there. Liz was never home anyway, so it worked._

"_Come on." Jess opened the shower door._

"_No! Don't look at me, I'm disgusting." She was losing it. Every once in awhile she would. She'd get completely irrational and scream and hit until she wore herself out and cried herself to sleep._

"_I really didn't want to have to do this." Jess wrapped his arms around her and picked her up, carrying her out of the bathroom._

"_Don't touch me!" She shrieked, punching his chest. He put her down on his bed, sitting up, entwining their fingers, holding her hands so she could calm down. _

_He'd learned the hard way that you couldn't just hold her hands together, and you couldn't leave them free. If you held them when she was already in this state it'd get worse, and she'd start think Jess was Hitler and scream more, and kick. But if you just let them be she would hit you. It was a fine line when she was like this, and it was at these times that Jess was glad he lived in a bad neighborhood. No one would call the police because she was screaming._

"_Shhh." Jess stared into her eyes, calming her down. "You're not disgusting. He's not here."_

"_No." Her voice was a whimper now. "He's still on me."_

"_No he's not. The only people here are me and you. No one else."_

"_I love you."_

"_I love you too."_

"_Can you erase him?" _

_Jess knew exactly what she was asking. "Baby, you're still too hurt. It's too new. You need to heal."_

"_I'm fine. I need you." She looked at him, and Jess didn't know what to do. Cassie kissed him softly, tugging on his shirt. He let her take it off along with the rest of his clothes. He laid her down and hesitated. "I won't break." She told him, and Jess knew that he couldn't break her anymore than she had been._

_He still entered her gently and watched her wince just slightly before smiling softly and nodding. _

_They'd never gone that slow, but after they had both climaxed, Cassie smiled at him and kissed his lips sweetly whispering how much she loved him. In those moments it seemed like everything would be okay._

_--------------------_

A/N: (cringes) Don't hurt me?

Watergurl123- Intense in a good way?

Squealing- I was glad to hear nothing like that happened to you, but it's terrible that is happened to some of your friends. Am I portraying it well?

Xo- I'm glad you like Cassie. I like to write characters that the readers will like. I think writing characters people will hate is pointless. You just get people worked up for nothing. Keep reading and reviewing.

Hollowgirl22- Haha, was that a portrayal of your face while reading that chapter? It was cute. Thanks for the review.

Dragon Dreamer3- Sorry that this was not such a quick update. This chapter was extremely hard for me to write. The next chapter should be up much sooner. I think Cassie will be okay. I'm glad that you think I approached it well and that you feel something for a character that I just introduced. It's a compliment to a writer when they can make the readers feel something. Thank you so much.

Curley-Q- Yes, poor Cassie indeed. Not a fun experience by any stretch of the imagination. There will be a Rory/Cassie scene coming up in a few chapters. I hope you enjoy it.

Just A Girl- I'm glad you liked it even though it was sad. This one was kind of sad too. Watching someone you love fall apart is one of the hardest things in the world.

Aiden86- Her step-dad is exactly that. (Glares) We haven't been on at the same time lately, and it's making me very sad. My ego is shrinking because you're not there to feed it until it's endlessly fat. I'm thinking we need to start messaging on myspace again because the iming is working out. Hope you liked this chapter too.

Exitlight- There will be I think just one more flashback, and you will find out if she was raped more than once soon. Thanks for the review.

The Warner Sister Dot- Thank you very much! It is devastating and I don't think people ever get over the pain of it. It's very good to hear I'm portraying it well.

Amy- Thanks. Music can be very powerful.

Gilmoreintraining- Thanks. I'm actually going to finish this story. Amazing, I know. But I am.

Contygoldbarg- Thank you very much. I'm not so sure about this chapter, but I hope that it was worth the wait.


	6. I Don't Fight And Tell

-1A/N: You're all right. I'm horrible. I'm awful. I'm lazy. I'm a bum. Add in whatever other adjective comes to mind. I'm apologize terribly for my lack of updates lately. I was so good about it, but then this chapter made me blah. Some was very difficult to write, and then once I did, I was not happy with the end product. Buuut you can thank my vacation for the update. I decided that since I'm going to Texas for ten days, starting Tuesday, and I'm being forced to leave my precious laptop behind, that I needed to get off my ass, or on my ass in the case, and update. I'm dragging myself kicking and screaming, but I refuse to let all of my wonderful readers and reviewers wait ten days for an update. So although I'm incredibly busy making lists and packing because my mother is convinced we won't finish packing on time, (mostly because she decides to bring all of King Tuts belongings with her. I'm not so worried, because I don't even have much to bring) I will post the last two chapters before I leave and finish this story. Yay!! Wow, this is a long ass Author's Note. Am I breaking some kind of record? For all of you that are still reading, thank you, and I will now let you get on with the story.

Disclaimer- I own nothing but the ridiculously long Authors Note.

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Suddenly Cassie was there, walking onto the bridge slowly, catching the tail end of the story. She sat and continued where Jess left off. "It went on for a year."

She and Jess took turns telling the rest.

_About a year later, Cassie and Jess went to get checked for STD's. It was routine. They went every year, just in case. Apparently someone there tipped some detectives off about Cassie's suspicious scars._

_Cassie had gotten much better. The episodes in which she lost it were few and far between. It seemed she was becoming numb to it, and she got to where she just went somewhere else, and came back after the awfulness was over. It didn't make it okay, but it helped. Helped Cassie cope. Helped her just go on with her relationship with Jess, that had become increasingly tense over year in which George was ruining Cassie's life._

_For the last few months Jess and Cassie had been fighting. It seemed like all of the time. Jess wanted to report it. Make it end. Cassie didn't. Yes, she wanted it to end, but she didn't want to report it. It hurt enough to have Jess know. She didn't know if she could stand her mother knowing. _

_She had been getting farther from her mother, unconsciously holding a grudge against her for what was happening. Like it was somehow her fault. And in Cassie's somewhat fucked-up mind, it was. Shouldn't her mother see her unhappiness? Shouldn't there have been some motherly instinct to tell when there's something wrong? Cassie believed her mother was just too caught up in George to pay enough attention to notice. But that didn't mean she didn't love her mother dearly, and want to inflict any kind of pain on her. So she fought to keep it a secret. Didn't care what it meant for her. But Jess did._

_Jess' and Cassie's fights were not few and far between. They fought anywhere and everywhere. The kids at school even noticed. Multiple times Jess would get fed up and tell Cassie that it was over, walking out. But the next day he always returned and he and Cassie would make up, apologizing and making promises they couldn't keep. Then they would fight again. Curse, scream, hit, push, and throw things at each other. All of the fights were not even about the same thing. Underlying, yes, but they would find the smallest things to fight about. Down to what the other was wearing or listening to. Everything the other did seemed to get on their nerves. Sure they had the good moments in which it was quiet and all they had was the love for each other. Because no matter how much they fought, they loved each other. Which in the end was why they fought. Jess loved and cared so much about Cassie that he didn't want to respect her wishes, he wanted to end the pain. In his efforts, he only caused himself pain and became more and more closed off from Cassie, along with everyone else. Usually his attitude was saved for everyone that wasn't Cassie, but that was changing rapidly and it was one more thing they fought about. They were having one of their more serious fights when the detectives walked in. _

_The two were in a small secluded part of the school by some lockers no one used, arguing like they always did._

"_He could've killed you!" Jess yelled angrily. _

"_Jess, you don't get it. I need to be strong about this. He does it to hurt me. He does it to see me cry, to see me in pain. I can't show him that."_

"_So you told him I had a bigger dick so it didn't matter what he did to you?! You could have gotten had a major concussion from how hard he hit your head on the wall! I was worried sick!" The first line would have been funny if not for the ridiculously angry outburst that came as a result of it._

"_Jess, I do it to hurt him. He gets mad because he's hurt. I have to hurt him like he's hurting me."_

"_Nothing you could do to him would be worse than what he does to you. That's it, I'm telling someone."_

_Unfortunately, what came next was what the detectives heard._

"_No, Jess! Please!"_

"_Yes, I'm going to-" He stepped close to Cassie, his body almost touching hers._

"_No!" She yelled a little stronger, cutting him off._

"_Dammit, Cassie!" Jess punched the lockers next to her head, leaving a permanent indent in them. To Cassie's credit, she didn't flinch. She was used to his outbursts._

"_Jess Mariano?" The detective called. Jess looked in their direction. They came up on him, slamming him face first against the lockers, putting him in handcuffs. "You're under arrest for the rape of Cassandra King."_

"_What?!" They both yelled simultaneously, equally outraged._

"_He didn't rape me!" She tried to defend, but they kept pushing Jess through the halls, earning many looks from the students around them. _

"_Come with us, Ms. King." The taller, lankier detective ordered, leading her through the halls after Jess._

_They were put in separate rooms to be questioned at first. Cassie of course got the tall, gentler detective who now had a woman with him._

"_Ms. King, we found signs of rape, and Jess' seamen." Cassie was sitting at a table with a mirror on one wall of the room and one of the two detectives standing. She felt like a criminal._

"_Of course you found his seamen. He's my boyfriend. We have sex. All of the time. In fact, we had sex this morning. I like it a little rough, okay? No biggie." None of that was a lie. She did like it rough. Always had. And they did have sex that morning._

"_There's rough, and then there's rape." The woman stated._

"_He didn't rape me." Cassie insisted._

_They changed subject. "You two seemed to be in a fight."_

"_We're a couple. Couple's fight. It was a stupid little high school fight."_

"_Your boyfriend looked pretty mad for just a stupid high school fight." _

"_He thought I was cheating on him. He was going to beat the guy up. Yeah, he was mad. But he didn't, and does not, rape me."_

_There was a knock at the door, and the detectives excused themselves from the room. Apparently both Jess' and Cassie's stories were straight, and it was decided to question them together. They thought maybe they could get a little passion out of them when they were together._

_After it seemed an eternity of questioning, Jess gave in. He turned to Cassie. "I'm telling them."_

"_Don't, Jess." Her voice was scared, pleading, and warning._

"_I can't watch you go through this anymore. It hurts too much."_

"_Jess, if you say anything I'll never forgive you and I'll never speak to you again." She looked Jess straight in the eye and he looked straight back for several long seconds. He then turned to the detectives. _

"_I'll talk." He glanced back at Cassie, but she was no longer looking at him. She was staring intently at the table in front of her, shaking slightly._

_The detectives were making him move to another room so that Cassie couldn't change his story or his mind. As he was getting up, he whispered in her ear. "I love you." She flinched noticeably almost as if the words physically hurt her, but didn't look at him. She just kept her gaze on the table._

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A/N: Okay, I definitely suck. Making you wait this long for a chapter this short? I apologize. I didn't know how short it was. Probably due to how evil it was. But I will post the next chapter before Tuesday, that's for sure. Most likely tomorrow, for I will be busy after that. Please review! They make me so happy, and would add to the happiness of the vacation. Oh, and some of my reviewers have stopped reviewing. That makes me sad. Where are you reviewers?! I am short of nothing without you. Just one more chapter everyone!!!

Curley-Q- Thanks!

Hollowgirl22- Aw, that's too bad. You shouldn't. She didn't do anything wrong. Haha. I actually really don't like Rory. Strange that I like Lit so much.

Dragon Dreamer3- Thank you very much. Sometimes memory is a really terrible thing. Bad things do go in replay. I'm speaking from personal experience. Not sleeping because you close your eyes and it's like instant replay over and over and over. It doesn't end. Yes, this is having an extremely emotional impact on Jess. Hence why in flashbacks he's so caring, and in the show he's not. I'm kind of trying to show that. What happened to make him the way he is now. Or in the third season. So closed off. Such a trouble-maker. I don't think it will effect Rory too much. Yes, a little, but not in a permanent way. Just in a realization that the world isn't warm and fuzzy like Stars Hollow. You'll see in the next chapter.

Squealing- Okay. I feel for those who it's happened to. Thank you for reviewing. I really do appreciate it.

Watergurl123- Sorry, not soon. Not soon at all. I've been putting it off, because that's what I do best. But I'm finishing this before my vacation.

Sagebeth- Wow, didn't think I'd get a review from you. Couldn't tell from your review whether you liked it or not. I know. Dramatic. Too much so? Thanks for the review.

Aiden86- Thank you, hun. I know. You need to wake up early more often to talk to me and keep me awake waaaay past my bedtime.

Exitlight- I imagine that if Rory was raped, Jess would not act kindly towards who did it. Hm.. You'll have to read the rest of the story. Which is only one more chapter, so you won't have to wait for much. Thanks for the review!

Just A Girl- Thank you so much! I'm glad you like my writing. It's a little rough sometimes, because I don't use any Beta. But, I think I improve with each story. Only one more chapter until this story is over.


	7. Old Habits Die Hard

-1A/N: Okay everyone, this is the last chapter of This Time Imperfect. I'm a little sad to see it come because I had such a blast writing it. It was tough at times, but the end product was worth it. I would like to thank profusely everyone who reviewed. A special thanks to Aiden86, she made me write sometimes when I didn't want to because I'm lazy and encouraged me to post more chapters all the while boosting my ego. I don't know where this story would be without you. Also a special thanks to Just A Girl Of The Hollow x3, XoXoLiteratiLoveroXoX, The Warner Sister Dot, Curley-Q, Hollowgirl22, Amy, Aiden 86, Dragon Dreamer3, Exitlight, and Squealing Lit. Fan for reviewing every chapter or close to every chapter. You guys are amazing, and made my days so many times. I greatly enjoyed discussing and sharing this story with you, and hope to do it again. Anyone who reviews for this chapter, I will reply to if you leave the review signed or with an e-mail address. Again, this has been a great experience for me. I hope you all enjoyed it to. Now on with the end of This Time Imperfect!

Disclaimer- I don't own Gilmore Girls, but I wish I owned my amazing readers and reviewers. Unfortunately though, you can't own people.

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After the bridge incident, Jess had stalked off upset. Cassie told Rory that he would be okay with a little time. That it was hard on him. Which it was. Brought back a lot of memories that he had been trying to repress.

Rory and Cassie were folding clothes from the dryer and talking.

"Do you regret anything?" Rory asked.

"In a way, but also not. I wouldn't be the person I am today without my experiences. I could live without a few though. I think the person I would be, would be better rested." Cassie joked. Rory laughed lightly.

"What happened.." Rory trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

"It sucked." Cassie finished bluntly. "But I was lucky. I had Jess who loved me, and took care of me, and was there for me. I could have been all alone with no one that cared or paid any attention to what was going on. He was the reason that I'm out of that situation because I don't think that I could have done it. I handled it all wrong. There were so many things that now I look back I realize I should've done differently. Pushing Jess away is one. I realize that he just wanted to help."

"That had to have been terrible and I'm impressed you handled it at all." Rory had thought of putting herself in Cassie's shoes throughout the telling of the story, and discovered that she didn't know what she would've done.

"It was hard. I thought about suicide many times, but Jess was there and I don't think I can ever repay him for it. I know it was hard on him, and I know he doesn't show emotions very often. Every time he does, it seems to get him hurt and I know that my situation and the way I tried to handle it, certainly didn't help that."

Rory took a deep breath trying to build up the courage to ask Cassie an important question. "You lost your virginity to Jess, right?"

"Right." She nodded.

"How was it? I mean, I don't want every detail. Just an overall."

"A little awkward." Cassie laughed. "Not because it was Jess, but because neither of us had any idea what we were doing. I mean, we were twelve. We hadn't even had a sex ed. class yet. Not that you need one in New York, but we were just a couple of curious kids. All it was really was fumbling hands and a lot of laughter. Which was good. We were comfortable enough with each other that we could laugh through the whole thing. I didn't expect some life-altering experience." Cassie paused. "But it won't be at all like that with you. You'll be with Jess. Who now is very experienced."

Rory blushed a deep shade of crimson. "So I'll just be the one with the fumbling hands? Great." She laughed nervously.

"No. Jess will guide you on what to do. Just follow his lead. You guys will fall into a rhythm. Trust me." She folded a shirt. "I'm sure he'll be gentle and loving because he loves you, and that's Jess. Once you get past the hard exterior, he is the sweetest person you'll ever meet."

"I don't think he loves me."

"Oh, he does. I know Jess better than anyone. He won't admit it yet. But he does. He'll tell you with time. I mean hell, he didn't tell me until we were thirteen. We'd already been officially together for over three years." A look of panic crossed Rory's face, so Cassie spoke quickly trying to save herself. "Not that it'll be that long with you. We were ten, you guys are much older. It won't take as long to figure out your feelings." Cassie sighed. "We really shouldn't be comparing relationships here. They're completely different."

Rory laughed folding a pair of jeans. "Okay, new subject. Do you have a boyfriend now?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Cassie shrugged. "Haven't found the right guy."

"You will." Rory assured.

"I know."

Unable to resist the other question clawing to get out, she asked, "Do you still love Jess?"

Cassie sighed in response. "Truthfully? I'll always love Jess. He was my first love and I'll never forget him, and never stop loving him. But our time together is over. We were together all of our young lives, and that was it for us. I don't think we were meant to be together forever or anything like that. I'm glad that now we're on better terms than we were, but we're both meant to fall in love with other people. Just like we were meant to be there for each other while we were young, to take care of each other, we're meant to be there for someone else and take care of them now. Jess may have already found his person," Cassie gave Rory a pointed look, and Rory blushed before looking down at the shirt she had in her hands. "and now I need to find mine. I will not always be _in _love with Jess. But I will always love him."

Rory nodded in semi-understanding.

------------------------------

"Hey, what're you doing here so early?" Jess asked Cassie as she strolled through the doors of the diner at five in the morning. It was unfortunately Jess' turn to open that day.

"I'm heading out. Thought I'd get an early start."

"You never went to bed, did you?"

"Ah, you know me too well. That's the only way to have me out of bed at five in the morning is not going to sleep the previous night. Not that I've been sleeping at all for the last year and a half. Two to three hours a night. I think that's plenty."

Jess shook his head. "You really need to sleep."

"Okay, dad." She mocked him.

"So are you going to visit regularly?"

"I don't think so. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be in New York."

"Why?"

"I just think I need a fresh start. New York has too many memories. I need a new place with new memories."

Jess nodded. "I can understand that." Something on Cassie's left wrist caught his eye. "What's that?" He jerked his head towards it.

Cassie pulled up her sleeve. "Tattoos." She showed them all to him. "I got the information on all of my hospital bracelets tattooed on me. So I'll never forget that no matter what happens to me, where I've been, and that it could be worse."

Jess examined all of them. He remembered most of the dates and the incidents that happened to call for a hospital visit. But he stopped at the two farthest up her arm that he can't recall being in New York for.

"What are those two for?" He pointed to them.

"Well, that one right there," Cassie pointed to the first one. "is from the mental hospital. I spent a week there after George escaped. Had a breakdown, tried to commit suicide. Obviously I failed. And that one," She pointed to the last one. "is from right before I came. I, uh, didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry."

"Tell me what?"

"Don't freak out."

"I won't." Jess assured.

"Well about a month ago, I came home from school and when I closed the door, George was behind it. Before he left the country he promised to come back to kill me. I grabbed the phone, dialed 911 and got in a scream for help before he took it from me and hit me across the head with it, breaking the phone in the process. Left a scar." She pushed her thick, straight, black hair back to show him a scar right above her left temple. "Just a little lower and he would've killed me. Then he threw me on the floor. I landed on my right arm, breaking it. Then he started kicking me. He broke four ribs. He pushed my big oak table over on me that had the vase and crap on it. The table fractured one of my legs, and the vase hit me in the head, knocking me unconscious. I woke up in the hospital and they told me that when they got to the apartment he was gone again and I was hanging onto life by a thread."

"Oh my god. How was your mom?" Jess was amazed, and felt a little bad at the same time. A part of him still thought it was his job to protect Cassie, but knew that Cassie was stubborn and didn't want to be protected anymore. If she did, she would've come to Jess sooner than she did. Though what happened was terrible, Jess didn't get a bad feeling like George would be back. Then he thought of how fragile Cassie's mom had always been.

"Hysterical. Blaming herself for everything. Just like I knew she would."

"I'm really sorry. I wish I could've been there to help." He was careful to not say protect. Because although Cassie didn't want to be protected, she had learned that she needed help sometimes. They were two different things.

"That's actually why I'm here. When George came, I thought he was going to finish the job and kill me. And the whole time all I kept thinking was 'I wish I could see Jess one more time. All I want to do is see Jess.' So as soon as I got out of all of my casts and was fully recovered, I went to your old apartment and shook out of Liz where you were."

"You got Liz to tell you where I was?" Disbelief was clearly evident in his voice.

"Yup. I barged into her apartment and sat in front of her fridge so she couldn't get any beer until she told me. I wasn't leaving. It's not like she could call the police, her apartment was full of pot. She'd totally get busted. So after about two hours of sitting in front of her fridge singing the small world song at the top of my lungs, she caved."

Jess actually laughed. "I would've paid to see that."

"It was pretty funny." It was silent for a few minutes. "Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. I got another tattoo."

"Oh really?" Jess raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." She turned her back to him and raised her shirt a little to reveal the words "_**This Time Imperfect**_" Scrawled across her lower back.

"Favorite song from your favorite band, huh?" Jess wasn't surprised.

"Yeah. It holds a lot of memories. Always helps me when I'm about to lose it. Something has to with my knight in shining armor gone." Cassie lightly joked.

Jess nodded.

"So anyway, I'm going to get going."

"Okay."

"By the way, tell Rory about the tattoo before you have sex with her. You don't want her asking questions in the middle of the act."

Jess and Cassie were always together in New York and so people used to tease them that they wouldn't recognize one without the other and combined their names. They called them Cassiano. So one day the two went out and got tattoos of the name in black with a read heart surrounding it on the inside of Cassie's right hip and on the inside of Jess' left. Kind of so they'd be aligned when they were... It was a crazy teen thing.

"The guys I'm with never care, but Rory will."

"Ah, I had forgotten about that tattoo."

Cassie mock gasped, putting a hand over her heart. "I'm hurt! How could you forget about that tattoo?"

"I don't take my pants off very often anymore." Jess joked, but was also serious.

"Fair enough." She conceded, smirking and shrugging one shoulder.

Jess' eyes suddenly widened before a "Oh." escaped his lips and he dashed through the curtain. Cassie's brows came together in confusion, and she slightly cocked her head to the right. He reappeared just as suddenly as he had disappeared, but when he reappeared he was holding something behind his back. Cassie tried to see around him, but failed.

"I almost forgot to give you something."

Cassie's eyebrows raised in surprise, and she smiled slightly. "And what would that be, Mariano?"

Jess then pulled a stuffed unicorn out from behind his back and Cassie squee'd like a mad woman, practically knocking Jess over with the force of her hug, while taking it. Stuffed animals had always been her favorite thing on the planet. In that sense, she was still a little girl.

"Thank you so much!" The squealed, pulling away to examine the soft creature.

Jess shrugged a tad embarrassed. If anyone in Stars Hollow saw that, it would ruin his rep. "Just to remember your visit here and the thirteen stores devoted to peddling porcelain unicorns. It's not porcelain, but only because I know you like stuffed animals… So, you like it?"

"Are you kidding?" Cassie looked up to him, smiling like he hadn't seen her smile since they were kids, and right then he thought she looked like a little kid on Christmas. "I LOVE it." She looked at it one more time before hugging it to her chest.

"Good, I'm glad." And suddenly Jess found himself smiling the biggest smile he'd smiled in years. Cassie's smile always had been contagious, and making her that happy after everything between them, made Jess happier than he'd maybe ever been. For a few moments they just stared at each other, soaking up the foreign feeling of being happy for once. Then Jess finally choked out, "You're going to miss your bus."

"Right." She was broken of her trance, and her smile softened. "It was really good to see you, Jess."

"It was really good to see you too." Jess enveloped Cassie into a hug and kissed the top of her head. He was glad she wasn't crying this time. She just kissed his cheek in return and grabbed her small bag from the floor of the diner, still clutching the white unicorn.

"Alright, babe. I'm out."

"Babe?" Jess raised an eyebrow.

"Old habits die hard." She shrugged, walking backwards before turning on her heel and leaving the diner and Jess' life.

END

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A/N: This is the end. Imagine! I actually finished a story. I'm sad it's over, but I hope you all enjoyed it, and tell me what you thought about it. For those who haven't been reviewing, make it up to me with a long review of the story and what you thought. I'd like to hear it. And of course you know I love to hear from the people that have been reviewing. You're all awesome.

A/N2: I do have an idea for a sequel. Let me know if you'd be interested or want to know a little more about it. I haven't started and probably won't for awhile because I have to try and finish the stories I already have going. But maybe if people are interested I will.

Just A Girl- At first I thought the review was going to be bad. Usually making people nauseas isn't a good sign, but I guess in your case it was. I'm glad you love the story so much. I really came to love it too. I'm sad it's over now. :'[

Amy- Thanks!

Exitlight- Yeah, he was just trying to help, and as you see in this chapter she realizes that. No, that was when he was sent to crazy Ville. They never got a chance to fight about that. Now the story's over. What'd you think overall?

Curley-Q- I know she doesn't. She knew that too. It was just a difficult situation to be in.

Squealing- Yes, I'm sorry for the long wait. Was it worth it? Now the fic's over. (tear) What'd you think?

Dragon Dreamer3- I'm glad you liked the length, but apologize for misleading you with the summary. I shall change it. I was going to write more Lit action, but decided that this wasn't the story for it. That wasn't the purpose of this story, and I really am sorry for misleading you. Did you like it anyway?

Aiden86- You finally got on! So sorry that it didn't work at first. What'd you think overall now?

Hollowgirl22- See? Lit. Cassie's gone. This was really just for the purpose of showing a little about Jess' past, and that he wasn't always the sarcastic smart-ass that he was in season three. I was never planning on getting Jess and Cassie together. Also, I realized this wasn't a place for Lit action. You all can make up their first time together on your own. This story gave it's purpose, and I don't want to drag it out longer than needed. I hope you enjoyed it, though.


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